GIS data model (or Data Format): Vector and Raster data
Professor Dr. Mohammed Mizanur Rahman
Dept. of Irrigation and Water Management
Bangladesh Agricultural University
Mymensingh - 2202
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Spatial data model
Spatial data are an integral part of GIS and various GIS operations
Real world features (e.g. roads, rivers, locations of important places, country
boundaries) are modelled by spatial data model
In GIS, a spatial data must have spatial (or geographic) reference/address (i.e.
coordinates)
A feature or spatial data may have several associated attributes (attribute data) that
don’t need to be spatially referenced
Spatial data models are:
(i) Vector data or data model
(ii) Raster data or data model
(iii) Triangulated Irregular Network (TIN) data
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Vector data (object) type
A spatial object (point, line, polygon) when they have spatial
reference/coordinate
Attribute data don’t have direct spatial address but they are linked with
spatial data; therefore, attribute data contains non-spatial information
associated with a vector data
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Vector data (object) type
Vector data model represents
real world spatial features or
objects that are spatially
discrete in nature
Vector data can be three
types:
(i) Point
(ii) Line/arc – represents
linear features like road, rivers;
(iii) Polygon/area
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Vector data (object) type
Point data:
• Point data represents a small
object/feature/entity that can spatially
be addressed with only a pair of XY
coordinates
• For example: (i) location of fire
hydrants (ii) location of rain
gauges/weather stations (iii) location
of cities/towns in a coutries
• point data have no dimension
• In data table/file, the information of
each point is stored in a row
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Vector data (object) type
Line data:
• A Line vector generally has start and end
points coordinates; in addition intermediate
points to model line shape
• Starting and end points are called nodes (or
From node and To node, respectively), and
intermediate points are vertices;
• A line may have multiple line segments
• Line data is a 1D data (i.e. length)
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Vector data (object) type
Polygon/area data:
• Polygons are formed by a set of connected lines
• Adjacent polygons share boundary lines
• in data table/file, each row contain a polygon
information including attribute data
• Polygon data are 2D data
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Topology
Topology- is the study of geometric properties that do not change when the
forms are bent, stretched or undergo similar transformation
***the spatial relationships between geographic features are fundamental to
ensuring data quality. Topology enables advanced spatial analysis.
Topological vector model:
-Many GIS software use topological vector model to represent vector data
-topology has the following three properties
(i) Connectivity
(ii) Area definition
(iii) Contiguity (Adjacency)
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Topology
Connectivity:
• arcs/lines are connected to each other at nodes. Topology keeps track of
all connected features
• Each arc/line has two nodes (From node and End node)
• Arc can join at only their end nodes
Area definition:
• Arcs that connect to surround an area or polygon
• Polygons are stored as list of arcs
Contiguity (Adjacency):
• Polygons that share a boundary are called adjacent polygons; the
boundary line has left and right polygons
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Topology
Example:
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Raster data or raster data model
• Raster data model defines the world (i.e.
geographic objects) as a regular set of cells/pixels;
this is also called grid representation
• Typically, cells are square in shape
• Interested variables/entities are represented via cell
values
• Each cell contain a value which means the
properties of a variable is constant across the cell
• Raster data are used to represent spatially variable
(or spatially continuous) attributes
• Cell coordinates are usually positioned at the centre
of a cell
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Raster data or raster data model
Resolution:
• The higher the resolution of a raster data, the more detailed spatial variation
can be presented
• High resolution data requires more storage and huge computational efforts
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Advantages and disadvantages of vector and raster data
Advantages of Vector Data Structures:
• Good representation of phenomenonology
• Compact
• Topology can be completely described
• Accurate graphics
• Retrieval, updating and generalization of graphics and attributes possible
Disadvantages of Vector Data Structures:
• Complex Data Structures
• Combination of several vector polygon maps or polygon and raster maps through overlay creates
difficulties
• Simulation is difficult because each unit has a different topological form
• Display and plotting can be expensive, particularly for high quality, color and cross-hatching
• The technology is expensive, particularly for the more sophisticated software and hardware.
• Spatial analysis and filtering within polygons are impossible.
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Advantages and disadvantages
Advantages of Raster Data Structures:
• Simple data structures
• Overlay and combination of maps and remote sensed images easy
• Some spatial anaysis methids simple to perform
• Simulation easy, because cells have the same size and shape
Disadvantages of Raster Data Structures:
• Volumes of graphic data
• The use of large cells to reduce data volumes means that phenomenonologically recognizable
structures can be lost and there can be a serious loss of information (drop out)
• Crude raster maps are considerably less beautiful than line maps
• Network linkages are difficult to establish
• Projection transformations are time consuming unless special algorithms or hardware is used.
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